Business News

British government poised to sell-off nationalized banks

Nov 1, 2009, 10:48 GMT

London - The British government is poised to sell off some of the country's struggling banks bailed out and nationalized in the wake of the global financial meltdown, it was reported Sunday. Northern Rock, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Bank are all set to be sold to the private sector, creating three possible new high-street bank chains. To increase competition, no existing British financial institutions will be permitted to buy up the banks, paving the way for three new bank chains by 2015. After Northern Rock nearly collapsed in 2007, the British government was forced to step in, and now owns 70 per cent of RBS, 43.5 per cent of Lloyds, and all of Northern Rock - after billions of pounds of taxpayer bail-outs. There is speculation in the British media that buyers might include major high-street brands such as Tesco and Virgin. The new chains are to be standard retail banks concentrating on deposits and mortgages.

Business News

British government poised to sell-off nationalized banks

On the Web

Your Talkback on this Story

Similar articles

Latest Headlines in Business

Older Talkback

Like M&C on Facebook

Viral Web

In Monsters and Critics

Corporate

The Fine Print